ALPHA FLOOR

I find it strange that nobody has remarked yet on yesterdays putrid, poisonous air quality. The Standard newspaper said the readings where the highest ever recorded. The SCMP lead with a similar article....

Of particlar concern to me is that the wind is STH WST which normally brings us fresher cleaner air.

The Standard - Hong Kong's First FREE English Newspaper

10 days before the games and lots of foreign teams staying in HKG over concerns for the air in Beijing - what does the future hold.

AFL

Humber10

Chief Executive Donald Tsang Yam-kuen said Hong Kong's heat is one of the challenges athletes will need to overcome.
"Athens was hot as well. They need to overcome cold as well as heat," Tsang said. "It is part of the competition."

What about pollution, is that part of the competition??

moosp

Yes pollution is part of the competition. Just like high altitude was part of the Mexico Olympics. And heat was part of Athens.

Live with it.

We would all like to live and work and do sports in the air of Alaska and the temperatures of Vancouver, but that is not the real world.

I would surmise that the athletes that will be most affected by the pollution will be the marathon runners, based on the volume of polluted air inhaled. Good scientific studies have predicted that this will only reduce the final times by less than two minutes.






Published by the Not Anything To Do With The Olympics Committee and certainly not anything to do with the Chinese Olympic Motherland Committee and most certainly not absolutely anything to do with the SCMP Support the Olympics Or We Get Censored for Years Comintern.

Yeager

I have a feeling that this will NOT become the "The BEST Olympics ever" but possibly be the "The MOST Polluted Olympics ever". Sad - but very likely.

Suppose we will get to see a lot of Stars in China - it just wont be in the skies

Soon - time will tell..

Kitsune

Final times by less than 2 minutes, and life expectancy by.........

404 Titan

It wouldn’t surprise me if events like the marathon are cancelled if pollution remains high. The day before yesterday the visibility in Beijing was less than 1800 metres. If cancellations occur then this will reflect very badly on the Chinese government and may just wake up the world to the pollution caused by China and other Asian countries.

buggaluggs

I agree, in the big scheme of things a major loss of face on the world stage might be just what is needed!!! It might prove to be just the acid needed to begin cleaning up the filth! And not just in the air!

freightdog188

today's SCMP:

"Clear skies, high visibility and a fresh breeze offered beleaguered Olympic organisers breathing space to declare some good news yesterday: the war on smog is being won...."


"...Comrades, even the wind is on our side! Long live the Communist Party of China!..." or so

Humber10

If they havent bothered to totally clean up the air by now, then do you think they really care..... I dont think they give a flying f@#k and it will never change...

BandH

Anyone who thought they would be breathing clean fresh air and enjoying 100KM viz just because they take a few cars off the road is seriously kidding themselves.

Yeager

Dont forget! In Disney Land - everything is possible. Mickey Mouse will just spank everybody who's dares to think its polluted and filthy.
Yes, that also includes Hello Kitty!!

kluge

404Titan and especially buggalugs are spot on.

This is the ONLY way that change needed to address this issue will happen.

As much as we would like to see a peaceful games I think a better outcome for the world AND for the health of the Chinese people in the long run is a public embarrassment of China on an international scale.

Unfortunately the West, in its greed and fear, appears to be ignorant of the manipulation by Beijing of its kow towing. Worse, it appears ambivalent. I predict this will only continue. The Chinese are laughing.